Chapter 72.1: “Boyfriend? Hey? Lawyer Bai? When did you get a boyfriend?”

Even though Bai Duandan was heartbroken and couldn’t bear it anymore, Rong Sheng had no idea. He sighed and said, “Actually, Jixin Pharmaceutical didn’t need to go bankrupt in the first place. If the company had just overcome the difficulties of the cash flow, and if the employees could have given the company a little more trust and listened to Uncle Ji’s explanation rationally, then it wouldn’t have ended up like this. But the employees were too selfish. Many of them were new graduates who Uncle Ji personally hired and trained at the beginning of the company’s founding. He taught them valuable experience at Jixin Pharmaceutical. However, when the crisis came, they didn’t have any sense of collective responsibility.”

“Uncle Ji was very compassionate when he started the business. He cared for many frontline employees at the grassroots level. If someone had something going on at home, like buying a house, seeking medical treatment or getting married, and they wanted to advance their salary, he would agree. He never thought that when the company faced its toughest times, he would only ask for a delay of one or two days in receiving their salaries, and they would completely disagree…why? Because they saw that Jixin Pharmaceutical was struggling, and it seemed to be going bankrupt. They also received olive branches and better job offers from several high-level executives who had started new companies. People always want to climb higher.”

Suddenly, Bai Duandan felt a little dizzy. At that moment, she felt that she finally understood why Ji Lin completely hated the employees who only thought from their own perspectives and didn’t consider the company’s interests.

Due to her father’s experience, Bai Duan Duan always felt that business owners were cunning and treacherous, while employees were powerless and helpless. She naturally sympathized with the workers. Looking back now, Ji Lin was the same, but in reverse. He believed that employees were only motivated by self-interest and were prone to forget past favors. He believed that they would take advantage of the so-called vulnerable image to benefit themselves at the expense of the company. Therefore, in labor disputes, he always naturally sided with the company’s position and tended to consider problems from the company’s perspective. Due to his father’s experience, he may never be able to trust employees wholeheartedly and is filled with hatred when facing their flaws and mistakes.

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Rong Sheng did his best to sell himself out for Ji Lin, but he didn’t know that Bai DuanDuan’s heart was throbbing with pain as she listened. “How did he manage to get through that time?”

“It was his belief in uncovering the truth and his debt that drove him,” recalled Rong Sheng. “Do you know why I chose to partner with Ji Lin in setting up a law firm? Actually, there were many people who wanted to partner with me, my family has some connections in the legal circles in City A, so I had many offers. Objectively speaking, Ji Lin wasn’t the best option for a partner at the time, as he had just returned from practicing in the US and had no experience in non-litigious cases related to labor disputes. He had not yet obtained his lawyer’s license in China and was unfamiliar with the legal environment and procedures, and his temper was not smooth. But if you had witnessed how he got to where he is today, you would know that choosing him meant choosing reliability.”

“I rarely admire anyone, but I sincerely admire Ji Lin. After his father went bankrupt and had to sell off his assets, due to many breach of contract agreements that required compensation and labor disputes, the company was unable to pay off its debts and still owed external debts. When his father committed suicide, on the one hand, it may have been because he was too proud to face himself, but on the other hand, he may have wanted to give his son and wife a way out with his death. With his death, the company’s debt also came to an end, and many creditors would no longer be inhumane enough to pursue his widow and child to the end. So actually, Ji Lin did not need to take on his father’s debt.”

“But he still went to work and eventually paid off all the debts himself?”

“Yes.” Rong Sheng nodded. “He’s a very tough and stubborn person. At thirteen years old, he went to work in the black market, cooking in a terrible restaurant kitchen for others, and his hands were scarred from burns. Anyway, as long as there was money, he was willing to do any job. He never neglected his studies while working. He finished school with a scholarship, then started doing legal translation and non-litigious work in the US. In the first few years, he worked like he didn’t care about his life, sleeping an average of only three hours a day, and buying a sleeping bag to sleep in the company. After two years of hard work, he paid off all his family’s previous debts.”

“If you saw how he persevered through these years, you would know that this man is definitely going to succeed. He can endure more than most people, he can work harder than most people, and he is more tenacious than most people.”

Talking about this, Rong Sheng actually feels very emotional: “Of course, because of his father’s situation and these experiences, his personality has changed a lot. He used to be very sunny, but later became very silent. But to be honest, deep down, I don’t think Ji Lin has changed. As his subordinates, you may feel that he is a bit mouthy and lacks human touch, but he is actually quite gentle.”

“His mouth becoming so insolent is not entirely his fault. After finally making it to high school, Ji Lin went to a top high school in the province and was quite happy. He thought he would no longer be ridiculed by his former classmates in A City and gradually became more outgoing and made friends. At that time, he had a desk mate who was a girl and was quite friendly and enthusiastic towards him. She would take the initiative to talk to him and was quite nice. So when it was her birthday, Ji Lin bought her a gift, but…”

Rong Sheng sighed: “When Ji Lin gave her the gift, she pretended to be very happy, but when he happened to run into her outside a small store, he overheard her joking around with a few girls, mysteriously telling her friends that the son of A City’s infamous fraudster, Ji Lin, had given her a birthday gift that was not worth any money. She also said that he wanted to pursue her even though he gave her such a cheap gift, without even considering his own shady family background…”

“This incident had a big impact on Ji Lin. I was with him that day and heard everything. After that, not only did he not take the initiative to talk to anyone, even when others approached him, he would use very sharp and sarcastic words to drive them away. He was like that towards me during that period too. At first, I was not happy about it, but later I realized that it was probably his self-protection mechanism after being hurt. He couldn’t easily trust anyone’s approach anymore, fearing that they had ulterior motives or were full of malice. So he decided to take the initiative to attack and drive away others who tried to get close to him, and then retreat back into his own shell. Although it was lonely, it was very safe.”

Without needing to be said, in fact, Bai Duan Duan had already noticed it. Just like what he had said before, this man was like a lychee – hard on the outside, but juicy on the inside. Setting aside his false harshness, Ji Lin was actually very gentle. His harsh intentions were not meant to harm others, but rather to protect himself. However, as time passed, it was too easy for people to misunderstand and have biases towards him, ultimately giving others a negative impression.

“So, Ji Lin is actually a man who doesn’t have much initiative or expectations when it comes to relationships. Duan Duan, since you’re willing to cook three meals for me for free, I’ll secretly tell you a secret. Actually, Ji Lin has never had a girlfriend up until now,” said Rong Sheng, adding fairly, “Oh, he also doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

“…”

Bai Duan Duan was originally feeling bitter and sad because of Ji Lin’s past experiences, but now she was slightly lifted by Rong Sheng’s words. Rong Sheng was actually very thoughtful, and he clearly sensed Bai Duan Duan’s melancholy. That’s why he switched to a more relaxed topic. It’s no wonder he and Ji Lin have been friends for so long. Under his casual appearance, Rong Sheng was actually very attentive and caring about the feelings and reactions of the person he was talking to.

“Anyway, Ji Lin is really unfortunate. Forget about not having a relationship now. Probably even when I have my second child in the future, he’ll still be alone. I saw a great flat before and urged him to buy it next to me, but he refused to because he didn’t like the layout,” Rong Sheng chuckled. “This guy sometimes can’t even understand the deep meaning behind my decisions. I asked him to buy the place next to me, not only so that I can bring him some food when I get married, but also to prevent us from drifting apart once I enter a different stage in life. Once someone gets married and starts a family, they tend to drift away from their single friends, because their lives have entered different stages. Married friends start to focus on things like raising children, while single friends are still like rootless drifters. I’m doing this to prevent us from drifting apart once I get married, you know?”

Rong Sheng had a “do you think it’s easy for me” expression on his face and sighed heavily as if he was worried about the country and the people.

Bai Duanduan couldn’t help but ask, “Um, Lawyer Rong, do you have a partner now?”

“No,” Rong Sheng smiled, “Although I don’t have one now, I firmly believe that I will get one before Ji Lin does.”

Rong Sheng, your confidence is really something.

But because of Rong Sheng’s joking, the conversation returned to a less serious tone. After thinking for a moment, Bai Duanduan couldn’t help but continue the previous topic. She cleared her throat and asked somewhat awkwardly, “So, did Ji Lin actually like his desk mate at the time?”

Feeling sorry for Ji Lin, but jealousy still had to be felt, Bai Duanduan thought to herself that Ji Lin even bought a birthday present for his female desk mate, while he still had debts to pay off and was probably working every chance he got to save up some money. How many dishes did he have to cook to save up enough money? And yet, he still bought a gift for this cunning female desk mate, and the result was that his sincere gesture was wasted.

Just the thought of it made Bai DuanDuan feel sad and lost. She thought, how can Ji Lin still have the nerve to say she is his first love? Didn’t he have a little crush on his female classmate in high school? It’s just that he didn’t fall in love with her because of his unfortunate encounters. However, he had a crush during his high school years, which was far earlier than her own experience. Moreover, the first person she had a crush on was him.